


ivory keys, sing for me

by kittensuh



Series: love in ncity [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Slight Hurt/Comfort, dads johnkun, lapslock, minimal dialogue, piano playing, slight angst, son chenle, this is a family of musicians, under 1k
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 19:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20452286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittensuh/pseuds/kittensuh
Summary: a tiny glimpse into johnny, kun, and chenle's love for each other and the piano.





	ivory keys, sing for me

**Author's Note:**

> thank the johnkun drought and that video of chenle playing the piano for this :')

johnny and kun meet playing the piano. in the market for new pianos each, they meet in the keyboard section of a guitar center, their fingers dancing over the same keys and pressing the same buttons accidentally. johnny smiles warmly and apologizes and kun tells him not to worry, that it’s just fine. 

that same day, they spend hours talking about keyboards and pianos and their years of experience. (kun had done it longer, but johnny found he didn’t mind in the slightest) down the line, they find each other at each other’s coffee shop shows, in classrooms teaching children, perfecting a piano duet for their closest friends’ wedding, perfecting one for their own wedding, and lulling each other out of bad days and into sleep at the end of the night. 

when they adopt chenle, they make a mutual decision not to force anything on to him. if he loves the piano, great. if he prefers soccer, slightly less great but still great, nonetheless. 

though it comes as a surprise to no one at all, chenle takes up the piano. johnny and kun had lulled him to sleep countless times in his infancy to the sounds of ivory keys singing and dancing around their heads and his son’s natural curiosity guided him to occasionally press random keys and hear the way they moved the air around him. 

he learns the ones at the beginning make short sounds that are loud and high pitched and the ones at the other end make long sounds that feel like they churn chenle’s tummy. the middle keys make the best sounds and he likes pressing those, rhythms and beats rising up from his subconscious memories. 

on his fourth birthday, after his big birthday party and all of his friends and daddies’ friends going home from the raucous celebration, chenle gets one last surprise. 

“close your eyes,” johnny says gently. he smiles when chenle does just that, his chubby little hands coming up to cover his eyes. he’s lead down the familiar hallway until he’s in a room, one he thinks might be his own. johnny’s big hands position him by the shoulders until he’s standing facing forward. “okay, ready?” chenle nods excitedly and this time, he hears two sets of chuckles just before his dad is taking the blindfold off of him. 

there in his room right in front of the window is a brand new keyboard with a big red bow on it. it’s smaller than the grand piano in the living room, but still bigger than him and he marvels at the gift. his thanks aren’t enough and he’s quick to start pressing buttons again, seeing how it sounds like the piano and how it doesn’t. 

johnny and kun spend the next two years teaching him how to play the keyboard and all the basics he needs. 

“he’s talented,” kun claims one night. 

johnny only chuckles but agrees anyway. “a natural born composer.” the two parents laugh at their exaggerations but they both know they aren’t too far off, have heard the random and new rhythms chenle can conjure right off the bat. 

on his sixth birthday, chenle moves up to the grand piano. it’s mahogany all around and the off white note keys and their charcoal black accent keys look like fine china to him. his dads sit him down between them and they all play with random rhythms and notes that first night. 

as chenle gets older, his love never dwindles and his parents are honored by his excitement day in and day out. 

it’s how we find them now, chenle at the tender age of seventeen and going through his first major heartbreak. 

he’s too big to sit in anyone’s lap now, but he still fits between johnny and kun, all three of them with their hands just hovering above the keys. 

they’ve done enough talking and for now, they let the piano speak for them. 

chenle begins on the far right keys, something dark and the minor key filling the house with its melancholic sadness. it’s beautiful and loud and it resonates within the three of them, chenle letting the hurt out and his dads left to sit back and listen to the way it hurts. 

kun can’t take much more and with his left hand, he begins to play something on the far left. chenle visibly jumps, but his notes never falter from their sad tune as kun complements them. now the tune changes shape and as father and son play side by side, they notice the song that appears. a fusion between happy and sad, lively and dull. as their fingers move around expertly, chenle soon settles between johnny and kun again and plays from the keys between kun’s high keys and the middle ones in a beautiful harmony. 

with johnny’s right hand, he easily takes up the middle to low keys, playing a major key sound to put to use against his husband's and son’s harmonious rhythm. 

they spend the night playing what feels right and letting the music speak and as johnny looks over to kun, they both spot the same twinkle in their eyes, pride and happiness making homes in their chest when they look to their chenle and the fine piano player he’s grown to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twit](https://twitter.com/kitten_suh)   
[cc](https://curiouscat.me/kitten_suh)
> 
> i love you, johnkun nation and zhong chenle :')


End file.
